15 January,2011 07:35 AM IST | | Sanjeev Devasia
Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari allegedly attempted to stonewall efforts to provide information about his assets.
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RTI activist Vihar Durve has now filed a petition in the high court asking for directions to the
Information Commission.
"I filed a petition in the high court on Tuesday seeking directions to the State Information Commission to dispose of pending appeal before the commission," said Durve.
Durve first applied to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the General Administration Department of the state government in November 2008.
In December the same year, an undersecretary and PIO of the state government replied that as the officers had retired, the information of their assets could not be made available.
The RTI reply also said that since the information was not in public interest, it was not binding on the state to provide it to the applicant.
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When Durve appealed to the appellate authority in this case the Maharashtra Information Commission in March 2009, his efforts were blocked again saying that he had not signed the application.
Durve said he was forced to file a petition to the high court as there have been several cases, wherein appeals by RTI activists were kept pending and in the meanwhile, they were attacked by affected parties.
"I hope that the court will direct the Information Commission to dispose of the pending appeals before the Maharashtra Information Commission and that will stop them from denying information," said Durve.
